Dream start sets up first win for Raiders

Guernsey scored half-a-dozen tries in an eventful 36-27 win over Sevenoaks in National Two East on a sweltering afternoon at Footes Lane – a result that allowed director of rugby Jordan Reynolds to sleep easily after admitting in the build-up that this was a clash he was targeting because the fact they failed to beat ‘Oaks’ last season had ‘lived rent-free in my head for a while’.

‘Sevenoaks almost wind you up because they just keep coming back into the game. You look at our games last year and they’re exactly the same,’ he said, after describing his side’s display as ‘gritty’.

‘I actually think they’re a better side than they were last year and what really made the difference was getting off to those first three tries for us, getting into the flow.

‘Sevenoaks were always going to come back and we had to dig in deep.’

Raiders had their four-try bonus point sewn up by half-time, largely thanks to a flying start in the first quarter of the game, and the tries came from various avenues from trademark catch-and-drives to perfectly executed flowing set-moves that started inside their own half.

‘We started really well, but if you look at the detail of what came in that fast start, it was all the stuff we’ve been trying to put into practice this week,’ said Reynolds.

‘Malcolm [Barnes, assistant coach] has been doing a really good job with the back-line and we had that little bit of detail in. Last week we didn’t have that bit of detail.

‘It’s really good, five points today. Both teams had a fair crack.’

• Read a full match report in Monday's paper